1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to signal devices for indicating that a mailbox has been opened.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is not uncommon for mailboxes, particularly rural mailboxes, to be located adjacent a road or street at a considerable distance from the house or building with which the mailboxes are associated. Absent an indication to the owner of such a mailbox that the box has been opened, the owner often can make a number of daily trips to the mailbox in order to determine whether mail has been delivered. In order that such fruitless trips may be avoided, the prior art has provided a number of devices which provide a visual signal that a mailbox has been opened. The common flag devices which are pivotally connected to exterior surfaces of a mailbox require that the individual depositing mail within the box move the flag device to a given position in order to notify the owner of the box that mail has been deposited therein. Such devices require the active participation and cooperation of the individual depositing mail within the box, the work load of such individuals often being such that the time cannot be taken to provide this service. Accordingly, signaling devices not requiring the consenting participation of the individual depositing mail in the box have been devised. For example, File, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,108, provides a weighted signal member attached to a flexible cord, one end of the cord being held between the door of the box and an open end edge thereof, opening of the door of the box releasing the cord to allow the weight to drop to a position visible from a distance to an observer. Lawson, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,609,787, provides a rural mailbox signalling structure intended to be clearly visible from a point distant from the position of the mailbox and which is operable by the opening of the mailbox door, the device being operable without requiring the attention of the individual depositing mail within the box. The present invention provides a structure having the advantages of such prior art structures and further being less susceptible to jamming of the several portions of the device, the signalling portions of the device particularly being disposed in positions surmounted by the mailbox itself, thereby to prevent malfunction of the device by contact with ice and snow.